I’ve been trying to figure out my relationship with Israel, and unfortunately, the closest comparison is my alcoholic ex-boyfriend.

My ex wasn’t a bad person, which in hindsight was part of the problem. He was just complicated. It bothered him when I got a job he didn’t apply for or read a book he hadn’t heard of. Intellectual curiosity was, for him, a personal attack. He had a very obvious drinking problem, obvious to everyone but me— though, eventually, I saw the light and got him into AA. Then I would tell everyone we were working on it together. Couple goals! Nothing says stability like managing someone else’s addiction while ignoring your own emotional decline.

Then Israel passed a convoluted, controversial, death penalty law. Israel—not my ex- boyfriend. Though the communication style was similar to that of an alcoholic’s: confusing, delivered with absolute confidence, and holding a bottle to the sky.

Over the years, I’ve used a wide variety of metaphors to describe and make sense of my relationship with Israel. I’ve described her (Israel—who, depending on the conversation, uses she/her, he/him, they/them) like a mother-in-law, “I hope she’s doing well and that I don’t hear from her often!” and like the one safety-net for a people continuously persecuted throughout history. That one’s not really a metaphor.

My relationship with Israel, and therefore, the middle east, started at birth. I was born way away from Israel under a Colombian sky, but every Jew instantly becomes an ambassador of Israel at birth. The past few years, however, are what truly solidified that relationship, taking me and the middle east through ups and downs I wouldn’t have........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)